Hankow, July 16.
The population of Hankow which a fortnight ago was deeply concerned at the rapid Japanese advance up the Yangtze has since grown calmer despite air raids and frequent false alarms of an impending bombing such as given yesterday morning. This improvement in the morale of the population is to some extent due to the declaration of General Chiang Kai-shek before the Political Council that it was his opinion that the safety Hankow was assured for another three months. The Chinese supreme command does not intend to evacuate the Wuhan towns in the near future.
The interval of quiet on the Yangtze front that has followed the fall of Hukow is being used at the order of General Chiang Kai-shek to strengthen the lines of defence and to concentrate reinforcements in the Yangtze sector. In this connection, a change in important positions of the military command will be made.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.